Posts on ‘July 14th, 2009’

Former Pennsylvania state Sen. Vincent Fumo was sentenced on Tuesday to 55 months in prison for fraud, obstruction of justice and tax convictions after a federal judge announced that he had decided to depart down from a recommended 10-year prison term because of Fumo’s extraordinary public service. Fumo was accused of abusing his power as a senator to fund a lavish lifestyle with “other people’s money,” or, as he allegedly termed it, “OPM.” An Assistant U.S. Attorney would not say whether the government will appeal.

A New York appeals court has reduced the severity of the charge on which a state inmate was convicted for sending a dozen letters filled with foot powder to the New York State Bar Association, the Prisoners Rights Project of the Legal Aid Society and others to draw attention to his grievances. A lesser charge still stands against the inmate.

Although some U.S. lawyers — particularly vulnerable contract attorneys doing document review — regard outsourcing to India with dread, India offers an opportunity to a lucky few to get management experience, more client contact and a stake in a growing area of the legal business, not to mention the travel. Companies that aid law firms and law departments in outsourcing legal work to India are recruiting lawyers with U.S. professional experience to train and supervise their expanding work forces in India.

It has four wheels and can hit speeds of 40 mph. But is a riding lawn mower technically a motor vehicle? That odd question confronted the Georgia Supreme Court Monday after a man appealed a 10-year sentence for swiping a riding mower from a Home Depot store. The man seeks a shorter prison term by challenging his conviction for felony motor vehicle theft. The court’s decision could also help clarify what lawyers say is a murky definition for “motor vehicles” that may also extend beyond lawnmowers.

Hank Adorno, head of the largest minority-owned law firm in the U.S., violated nine Florida Bar rules when he engineered a $7 million class action settlement that distributed money to only seven people instead of all Miami taxpayers, the Bar claims. The Bar charged the Adorno & Yoss partner breached his fiduciary duty by making false statements in court, charging excessive fees and representing one client to the detriment of others in a flawed attempt to end a constitutional challenge to a city fire fee.

Twitter has hired a high-profile Google lawyer as its first general counsel. Alexander Macgillivray, deputy GC for products and IP at Google, will take the legal reins at the popular San Francisco-based micro-blogging site, according to people familiar with the hire. On Sunday, the Google lawyer appropriately told the world via his Twitter account that he was joining Twitter, although he did not indicate in what role.

For nearly four years, Georgia attorney Steven H. Ballard capitalized on his credibility as a real estate and business law attorney to bilk friends and clients of more than $2 million in what federal prosecutors say was a Ponzi scheme in which Ballard siphoned more than $200,000 for his personal use. But the fraud scheme, to which Ballard pleaded guilty in U.S. District Court last week, was only one symptom of his failure as a lawyer.

A New York appeals court has thrown out a $10 million suit against a convenience store where a man bought a 12-pack of beer just six minutes before killing himself and a second driver in a high-speed collision. In 2005, the second driver’s parents brought an action against the store, claiming it knowingly allowed a “visibly intoxicated” customer to purchase alcohol. Last week, the court held that alleged statements by a clerk that she smelled alcohol on the man’s breath were inadmissible hearsay.